Monday, January 28, 2013

Sweet Potato & Cous Cous Breakfast Hash

We all know by now how very healthy sweet potatoes are, right? Deeply orange all the way through... that's all good. It's nothin' but good. The problem is, we don't eat them all that often (in other words, I don't cook with them all that often). Well I knew that needed to change, so back in November we bought the BIG BAG of sweet potatoes at Costco. Since then we've been learning to love them for other reasons too. For instance, just how well they keep in the pantry...

We ate them in November. We ate them in December. We even took them with us on a long road trip to visit family... and baked some up out of town. We came back home with three left and none had any sign of being past it's prime. Folks, this is one tenacious tuber!

So, the other day I made the ultimate breakfast. The ultimate "everything-my-husband-hates" breakfast, actually. I just wasn't thinking. Or rather, I was thinking of how good the recipe sounded (to me), how it would use up stuff we already had on hand, and how nice it would be to make something different for breakfast. What I wasn't thinking about, was the Hub-ster.

When I asked him how he liked it, he said, "Well considering it's got almost everything I don't like in it*... it's not bad." And here I was soooo proud of myself. Whoops! Well, what can I say? I liked it a lot and if you don't hate the stuff that's in it... you'll probably like it too!

Put the cous cous in a large dry pan. Turn to Medium heat and toast the cous cous for a couple of minutes, shaking the pan often. When the color deepens and it smells nutty...

Add the bacon and fresh vegetables. Sauté for approximately 6 minutes.

Add the water and the dried mushrooms.

Bring to a simmer, cover, and turn the burner down to Low.

After 15 minutes, check amount of water remaining. When it's all (or mostly) absorbed remove the lid.

With a spoon or spatula, make spots for the eggs to cook in. One divot for each egg. (Depending on your pan, you may want to put a little fat in each divot to keep the eggs from sticking.)

Crack an egg into each space that you made, cover the pan again, and cook for 3 minutes (or until eggs are cooked to your satisfaction).

Dish up the eggs and hash, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: Make sure the spots for the eggs to cook in are wide enough! The first time I made this, my divots were too small and it took forever for the eggs to cook completely (which means they got overcooked. If this happens, just chop up the eggs and mix them into the rest of the hash. It will still taste great!).

I think I also just had too much in the pan (those Costco sweet potatoes are huge). If this happens, or if your pan isn't big enough, remove some of the hash before adding the eggs. It will keep really well in the fridge for another day (or you can transfer it to another pan if you're serving all of it).

We had so much left over that what you see in the photo is the leftovers the following day. I put some fat in the pan, added the leftover hash and covered it. It only took a few minutes to reheat on Med/Low, then I made divots and cracked in new eggs. I think it actually tasted better the next day.

*For the record... he had absolutely no issues with the eggs or bacon. He has, over the years learned to appreciate mushrooms, onions and bell peppers for the flavor that they add to dishes, and will tolerate cous cous now and then (especially with rosemary and lemon). The sweet potatoes... we're working on them. Baby steps!